8/8/23 Madigan Named Midwest Conference Male Athlete of the Year
8 August 2023 Sports
RIPON, Wisconsin – Cormac Madigan of the Ripon College football and baseball programs added one more accomplishment to his lengthy collegiate resume on Monday as he was named the 2023 Midwest Conference Male Athlete of the Year.
Awarded to one student-athlete representing women’s sports and one student-athlete representing men’s and mixed sports, the MWC Athletes of the Year award honors graduating student-athletes for their exceptional achievements in athletics, academics, leadership and community service.
In the third installation of this award for men’s and mixed sports, this is the first such honor for a Red Hawk male student-athlete.
One of the most decorated athletes in school history, Madigan (Rosendale, Wisconsin/Laconia High School) recently wrapped up his career with his name littered throughout the school’s record books. On the gridiron, Madigan holds six school records (career rushing yards, career points, career rushing touchdowns, career all-purpose yards, rushing touchdowns in one game and pass completions in one game).
He helped lead Ripon to a 9-1 season in 2022 and a share of the Midwest Conference championship for the first time since 2001. Madigan was the 2022 Midwest Conference Offensive Skill MVP, the 2018 Midwest Conference North Division Newcomer of the Year and was named to the postseason All-Midwest Conference team in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022.
On the baseball diamond, Madigan was a standout performer for the Red Hawks in 2022 and 2023. He was an All-Midwest Conference second-team outfielder in 2022 and is the school record holder in single-season games played (43 in 2023) and single-season at-bats (186 in 2022). His 65 hits in 2022, his first season playing collegiate baseball, rank fifth in program history for single-season hits.
More impressive than his accolades on the field are his contributions to Ripon in the classroom and in the community. Madigan was named the 2022 College Sports Communicators Academic All-America Division III Football Team Member of the Year. A chemistry-biology major, Madigan graduated with a perfect 4.00 cumulative grade point average. He was also the 2022 MWC Football Elite 20 award winner, signifying the student-athlete with the highest GPA in their sport throughout the conference. In 2022 and 2023, Madigan was named to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Division III Academic All-American Third Team for baseball. Three times he was selected as a CoSIDA/CSC Academic All-District honoree – twice in baseball and once in football. Four times he was named to the Academic All-Midwest Conference team.
Other academic awards include the 2019-20 Clifford Crump Phi Beta Kappa Award, the 2020-21 Red Hawk Award, the 2020-21 Jeff A. Thompson Award, the 2021-22 Midwest Conference Roy W. LeClere Award and the 2021-22 Samuel N. Pickard Award.
In the community, Madigan was a member of the Ripon College Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and was a member of the Orientation Committee on campus. He also volunteered in a variety of ways with the Ripon Food Pantry, Murray Park Elementary, the Ripon Fire Department and the Salvation Army. Throughout the majority of his college career, he helped tutor students on Ripon’s campus. In addition, he helped move Ripon College employees out of and into their homes while assisting in football and baseball camps on campus. Madigan was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, serving as the vice president and philanthropy and community service chair during the 2019-20 school year.
Madigan has been accepted into the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. He will begin schooling this fall.
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Cormac Madigan:
“Receiving this prestigious honor is a testament to the immense support and opportunities offered by Ripon College community, enabling individuals to reach their fullest potential. I am grateful for the exceptional professors and coaches who guided me, as well as the unwavering support from my teammates and peers throughout my time here. It’s the perfect way to close out my career at Ripon College.”
Chris Schumacher, Ripon College Director of Athletics:
“Cormac represents the essence of the total student-athlete experience in Division III and Ripon College athletics. His name is synonymous with academic and athletic excellence as he joins our storied history of high-achieving undergraduates whom Ripon helped prepare to make a significant positive difference in the world.”
Patrick Willoughby, Associate Professor of Chemistry & Madigan’s Faculty Research Advisor: “Cormac is one of the most hardworking and motivated students I have encountered at Ripon College. His accomplishments expand beyond the classroom and athletic field, and he has inspired us all. He is highly deserving of this award, and everyone at Ripon College should celebrate all that has happened as a result of Cormac attending Ripon College.
“One of our first conversations was in the Career Center during his first year in College where he said he wanted to become a physician. Since then he has been focused on this career trajectory and has become one of the most accomplished students to graduate from Ripon College. What makes Cormac unique from other high-caliber students is his ability to enhance the lives of others during his college journey. In the face of navigating the requirements of an aspiring physician, Cormac performed at the highest level while placing the interests of teammates, fellow students, and the surrounding community ahead of his own. He achieved a perfect GPA and high MCAT score while working the third shift as a medical scribe, researching the use of enzymes for making pharmaceuticals, and volunteering to monitor bluebird activity. The fact that these accomplishments are mirrored by a similar resume on the football and baseball fields makes Cormac uniquely inspiring. On his one day off from pre-season football workouts in August 2022, Cormac traveled to Chicago to present at the American Chemical Society National Conference. We left at 6 a.m., returned at midnight, and he was back on the field the following morning.”
Eric Cruise, Ripon College Head Baseball Coach:
“Our baseball program was blessed to have Cormac play for us the final two seasons of his career at Ripon. He is the ‘unicorn’ every coach wants in their program. He is an outstanding human being and a phenomenal athlete and competitor. This award couldn’t be going to a more deserving young man.”
Jake Marshall, Ripon College Head Football Coach:
“Cormac was a coach’s dream. He was hyper-focused academically and spent equally as much time preparing to succeed on the field. His time management skills and focus were truly unmatched and his contributions to the program and the college community will be felt for years to come. He tutored other students, worked night shifts at the hospital to gain experience, showed up every time we needed a host for recruits and was always there for whoever needed help. Most people have 24 hours in a day, and sometimes we felt like he was able to create a few more. We are so grateful for Cormac’s time and impact in our program and we can’t wait to see him do incredible things in med school and his future.”
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